Oh, sure. All of a sudden, everybody is an optimist. Where were y'all when I wrote this?* Huh?
*ED NOTE - Not all of you of course. Some of you jumped right on board the delusional optimism bandwagon, and for that, I applaud you. It takes more guts to go all-in before the season, when there's the risk of looking foolish. It's one of the joys of being a fan.
Back in early September, ATVS was the lone beacon of LSU optimism in the sea of negativity. Now, Glenn Guilbeau of all people is chiding LSU fans to be more positive. Chris Warner went on Finebaum's show to spread the Gospel of LSU positive vibes. People are beginning to feel, if not the delusional optimism, at least tepid positivity. We'll take it.
Being 6-0 and one win over McNeese St. away from LSU's best start since 1973 has a way of bringing out the joy again. Now, I know some of you have just taken the picture of Les Miles off the dartboard and you haven't had an optimistic though about the program since you became an expert on clock management. Which is cool. I'm here to guide you through some of the basic tenants of Delusional Optimism. It'll be okay.
THE TEAM IS PAST THE POINT WHERE IT GETS CREDIT FOR MORAL VICTORIES, THEREFORE I DO NOT CARE ABOUT MORAL LOSSES. Say it to yourself several times and let the logic of it flow over you. We aren't Mississippi State. We're not Kentucky. No one throws a party for "moral victories" around here. We care about the real kind. If LSU loses, the coaches and players will not get a pat on the head for playing hard. We demand wins. So, when they provide us with wins, we celebrate them. It's pretty simple. Miles' job is to win games. When he gets a win, I really don't care if it's ugly and I have little patience for "should have" losses. There is no such thing as a moral loss. Wins are awesome and should be celebrated. Even if LSU were to win every game, there would only be 14 weeks out of 52 in the year which had an LSU win. Wins are to be cherished because they are rare, even when you are successful.
THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. Being optimistic is simply more fun than being negative. Faith is risky and you can be crushed when the team loses, but why live losses that have not occurred yet (or may never occur - I heard a lot of chatter about how LSU was certainly going to lose to Florida from some LSU fans)? If you are not enjoying this, you shouldn't be doing something else. Whatever happen to laissez les bon temps roulez? You can criticize Miles for a lot of things - but boring he ain't. LSU games are about the most exciting events out there. The only thing predictable is their unpredictability. You can't say you aren't getting your money's worth.
THE DEFENSE IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD. LSU has been fortunate to have some very good defenses over the last decade. This year's defense has taken its place among them. At the rate they are playing, this team has a shot at going down as the best LSU defense in this decade, which is high praise indeed. This is your last chance to enjoy the Cookie Monster and Absolute Zero. It's also a 99% chance to be your last chance to Kneel Before Zod. Enjoy it.
The team is 6-0 and that is great. This season is shaping up to be pretty darn good, and that's wonderful. Tiger fans are beginning to believe again, which makes me happy. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This season is only half over, and the three toughest games of the season still lie ahead. Nothing's been accomplished yet.
There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, most importantly because it is more fun. However, that doesn't mean even we delusional optimists think this team has climbed the mountain yet or there are no issues to address.
The team needs to figure out the quarterback position, even though it has greatly improved. The defense still has a propensity to take the fourth quarter off, which is the kind of thing which will bite you in the ass. LSU keeps committing dumb penalties and giving away unforced turnovers. A team like Alabama will feast off of that. Auburn and Arkansas are the two most prolific offenses in the SEC, so let's see how the defense steps up to the challenge. And do we have a running back not named Stevan Ridley?
Those are real concerns going forward. But for right now, LSU is 6-0, life is grand, and my optimism doesn't seem so delusional right now, does it?